Yo Unregistered: Join us for the April 1 meeting when it will be Recovery night. We will have demonstrations working with winching, recovery and spotting. We will meet at 7:30 p.m. at Jefferson County Fairgrounds (not Stevinson Toyota but nearby).

Give me a break. Now anytime someone is in a wreck, it's because my Buick steering is too vague, my Honda brakes are insufficient, my Chevy power steering is too weak. Blah, blah, blah, if you can't control your vehicle then you have no business driving it and it's time to buy a bus pass. For a car to gain enough speed differential to kill someone it has to accelerate for a while, enough time for you, the responsible operator, to probably turn off the engine, put it in neutral, yank the e-brake, something to avoid the accident.

If this was GM, I cannot help but think you guys would be all over the other side.

There was a recall on 1996 Camrys according to the article? I agree, it is a theory in the case that would have to be proven, but it has merit if the guy was standing on the brake the whole time and the motor was floored. IF in fact, he was.

On a side note... Dr. Toyoda said to Congress there was no electrical malfunction. Technically correct... but Toyota's design does not cut the accellerator upon activation of the brakes, while their competition DOES. Not an electrical malfunction, but IMHO at least, a very bad design decision.

If this was GM, I cannot help but think you guys would be all over the other side.

There was a recall on 1996 Camrys according to the article? I agree, it is a theory in the case that would have to be proven, but it has merit if the guy was standing on the brake the whole time and the motor was floored. IF in fact, he was.

On a side note... Dr. Toyoda said to Congress there was no electrical malfunction. Technically correct... but Toyota's design does not cut the accellerator upon activation of the brakes, while their competition DOES. Not an electrical malfunction, but IMHO at least, a very bad design decision.

First, Ford recalled 4.5 million vehicles in 2009 for their cruise control fire issue. I have not once mentioned it until now. Ford's problems with cruise controls and tire inflation have led to a few deaths, too. They are still dealing with 10 year old vehicles and not owning up to it. Whether it was Toyota's arrogance or getting caught with their hands in the jar they are dealing with cars much newer than Ford did. Ford dragged their heels a very long time hoping just like Toyota that it would not balloon. The difference is that one has a whole lot of Congressmen on it's dole and the other not as much. Also now the government owns two of the Big 3 and they hate successful competition, what a good way to put the screws to Toyota.

For the past ten years, Ford has been doing a dance with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and consumers over the issue of leaking cruise control switches in certain company vehicles. As of 2008, it had recalled some 9.6 million vehicles to repair a faulty Texas Instruments cruise-control deactivation switch, and now after a NHTSA investigation, the Blue Oval has added 4.5 million more Ford and Mercury vehicles to the recall.

According to NHTSA, the switch can leak and overheat, which can lead to smoking and, in some cases, fire. In fact, The Detroit News notes that the switches have been faulted in more than 550 fires – some of which led to fatalities – many of which have led to lawsuits. A Ford statement declared, "Aside from the Windstar, the additional vehicles addressed in this action have different system parameters and do not pose an unreasonable risk to safety. However, Ford is taking this action on all of these vehicles to address possible ongoing customer lack of confidence in vehicles with the affected switch."

While 5 million units for the Japanese automaker may seem like a sea of cars, there’s another car manufacturer that trumps Toyota in total recalls over time:

Since the NHTSA started keeping records, Ford Motors has recalled over 20 million vehicles, the highest recall year being 1996 with over 7.6 million units. Thus, while the current recall hype might be news to the US consumer who favors Japanese models over their American counterpart, the news of Toyota’s 5 million units recalled could be overshadowed by Ford’s recall history.

It began back in 1972 when Ford issued a recall for over 4 million cars with faulty seatbelt buckles. With indications that the buckles could release in a crash situation, the auto manufacturer recalled cars from its Ford, Mercury and Lincoln brands – every single one of them made during models years 1970-71.

The next major car recall from Ford was the 1996 Ford Explorer recall. The malfunction in question gave it the less-than-favorable moniker “Ford Exploder” as the ignition switches were found to be defective and could catch fire, overheat or otherwise malfunction. Nearly 8 million cars were affected and Ford recalled nearly all its cars manufactured between 1988 and 1993.

So yes, I think responsibility falls with the user first and foremost. I'm not sure standing on the brakes of a Camry would not slow it down. If that was the case then every Toyota ever made would never stop because you point out that the fuel is not cut with the brakes. As would every automatic vehicle made since 1942 or whatever, so potentially every vehicle manufacturer is liable by trusting that the torque converter would decouple the engine and drivetrain and not overcome the brakes. I'm sure at some point in the 1970s or 1980s when EFI started to show up that fuel was cut with the brake pedal, but before that the engine just idled down and left you trusting the torque converter and brakes only. And mechanical throttle cables stuck a lot in those old cars. Had it happen in my 1956 Plymouth and I managed to survive it, hit the big 'N' (push button shifting was cool) and turn off the key. It ain't rocket science if you don't panic.

I for one am glad the throttle doesn't cut out on my LX when I apply the brakes...I couldn't power brake and use the brake to modulate speed offroad...In this case that design is a plus

I learned early on in my driving an automatic to only use ONE foot for brake and throttle in most cases after nearly driving my parent's station wagon through the garage door when I had one foot on the brake and one foot on the gas

IMO what we are seeing with Toyota is there is a fine line between holding the manufacturer responsible and having a media circus. Having two Congress Critters from Michigan berating Toyota seems to reek of "conflict of interest"...The media, the plaintiffs and their lawyers, and the politicians love this though...Hard to assume any of these people are unbiased participants in this whole thing when they have so much at stake...

You know Dave, I had forgotten about the Ford fires. One of my good friends has his Pickup go up in flames in the driveway after having sat for a long time. Just burned to the ground. I am still amazed that it just spontaneously combusted like that.